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NASH (Blacksmiths), West Hertfordshire, from 1750 October, 2010 |
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The indexed Hertfordshire Militia Ballot Lists are a good place to start as they record the names of men eligible for military service and in many cases give the occupations. A search of the Herts Family History Society CD (for all Hertfordshire) produced the following list of people called Nash who had a relevant occupation: |
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It is clear that there must have been a long established family of blacksmiths in the area before 1750 as there were smiths called James Nash being recorded in Abbots Langley, Berkhamsted, Bovingdon, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Tring and Wilstone in the later part of the 18th century. Benjamin Nash and another James Nash were spoon makers in Northchurch. (Spoon making also involved hammering metal.). Interestingly members of the Nash family were involved in paper making at Abbots Langley, Northchurch and Rickmansworth before 1800, Other family names include Joseph, Thomas and William. This shows how valuable the Hertfordshire Militia Ballot Lists can be in tracking down occupation information in the late 18th century |
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I then decided to do a quick search (I do not claim it is complete) of other sources where it is easy to relate names with occupations - concentrating on the Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead area, with adjoining villages. |
| 1758/63 | Thomas Nash, Blacksmith, Bovingdon (Disabled) | Militia List | ||
| 1763/69 | James Nash, Blacksmith, Bovingdon | Militia List | ||
| 1768/9 | Thomas Nash, Blacksmith, Great Gaddesden | Militia List | ||
| 1770 | Nathaniel Ware of Berkhamsted apprenticed to Thomas Nash, Blacksmith of Great Gaddesden | HALS | ||
| 1771 | Thomas Nash, Blacksmith, Great Gaddesden, 3 Children | Militia List | ||
| 1772 | Thomas Nash, Blacksmith, Box Lane, Bovingdon | Will (HALS) | ||
| 1772/6 | Joseph Nash, Blacksmith, Bovingdon | Militia List | ||
| 1774 | Thomas Bates of Berkhamsted apprenticed to Thomas Nash, Blacksmith of Hemel Hempstead | HALS | ||
| 1775 | Joseph Nash, Blacksmith, Boxmoor, Bovingdon | Will (HALS) | ||
| 1792c | James Nash, Blacksmith & Edge Tool Maker, Berkhamsted | Universal British Directory | ||
| 1797c | James Nash, Blacksmith, Hemel Hempstead | Universal British Directory | ||
| 1823 | James Nash, Blacksmith, Berkhamsted | Pigot's Directory | ||
| 1824 | James Nash, Blacksmith, Berkhamsted | Will (HALS) | ||
| 1828/9 | James Nash, Blacksmith, Berkhamsted | Pigot's Directory | ||
| 1839 | James Nash, Blacksmith, High Street, Berkhamsted | Pigot's Directory | ||
| 1841 | James Nash, 50, blacksmith, High Street, Berkhamsted with Mary (50), Maria (25), Frederick (20), Joseph (15), Thomas (15) all except Mary born Hertfordshire | Census | ||
| 1841 | William Nash, 25, Blacksmith, High Street, Berkhamsted, with Mary (25) both born in Hertfordshire | Census | ||
| 1841 | George Nash, 43, Blacksmith, Gossoms End, Northchurch, with Catherine 42, James 15, Maria 12, William 8, Mary Ann, 5, Sophia 1, Eliza 19 | Census | ||
| 1846 | James Nash, Smith, High Street, Berkhamsted | Post Office Directory | ||
| 1851 | Mrs Mary Nash, Blacksmith, High Street, Berkhamsted | Post Office Directory | ||
| 1851 | William Nash 36 , Blacksmith employing 2 men, born Berkhamsted, in High Street, Berkhamsted, with wife Mary 38, born Berkhamsted. & family | Census | ||
| 1851 | Joseph Nash, 27, Journeyman Blacksmith, born Berkhamsted, at Gossoms End, Northchurch, with wife Ester (27) and family | Census | ||
| 1855 | William Nash, Blacksmith, High Street, Berkhamsted | Post Office Directory | ||
| 1866 | Mrs Mary Nash, Blacksmith, High Street, Berkhamsted | Post Office Directory | ||
| 1878 | Joseph Nash, Blacksmith, Mill Street, Berkhamsted | Post Office Directory | ||
| 1882 |
Joseph Nash, Blacksmith, Mill Street, Berkhamsted William Nash, Farrier, Mill Street, Berkhamsted |
Post Office Directory | ||
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1912 |
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Samuel Smith, Blacksmith, 3 Mill Street, Berkhamsted William Nash, Farrier, 162 High Street, Berkhamsted |
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1933 |
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Albert Ernest Nash, Farrier, Farrier's yard, High Street, Berkhamsted Samuel Nash. Blacksmith, 3 Mill Street, Berkhamsted |
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| Clearly there is a very strong tradition of blacksmiths called Nash in the area, stretching over two centuries or more. While I have not yet proved that the William Nash who took on the lease of Frogmore Mill is related to this family this provides enough evidence (with the commonality of given names, to make it worth further investigation. |
| However it should be pointed out that any major attempt at family reconstruction could run into serious Right Name, Wrong Body type problems. Not only will the many James Nash cause problems within the blacksmith families, but there are even more people called Nash in the area which were not smiths. For instance, in the above list I noted a William Nash aged 36, living in Berkhamsted - and the census shows a builder called William Nash, also aged 36, living a few doors away. |